“Your father isn’t in hearing distance. I was listening in while you two were talking. I told him I wanted to speak to you so that’s why he ended the call so abruptly. And we’re still getting used to this together thing so it didn’t occur to him he could just hand me his phone.”
That was funny, and cute, so I let out a little laugh before I said, “Okay.”
“I know we don’t know each other very well, but I also know we both have the same equipment, and the same sexual preferences, so I’ll share now, until I met your father, I’d been through my fair share of assholes. Including a marriage that was not a barrel of laughs.”
That was particularly forthcoming.
“Um…okay.”
“In other words, if you need a sounding board, or a shoulder to cry on, or advice from someone who’s been there, this is me extending the official invitation.”
Oh shit.
With that, there was no way to hold them back.
I burst into tears.
“Oh, honey,” Marlo said through them.
Which only made me cry harder.
So much harder, I bent double and shoved my face between my knees.
“Get it out,” she cooed.
I shot back in my chair and declared, “I hate my mother.”
God.
Why did that feel so good to say?
“Honey,” she whispered in my ear.
“Why couldn’t Dad meet you thirty-five years ago?”
“Well, beautiful girl, I was only thirteen so that might have been a bit problematic.”
I barked out a laugh, the second one in our conversation that was surprisingly genuine.
“Talk to me now,” she urged.
“I…can’t. It’s too fresh. But…” I hesitated, then went for it. “Can we have a girls’ date when I get home?”
She did not hesitate.
“Of course. And if I have to chain Ned in the dungeon of this mausoleum to keep him from fawning all over you because he’s worried about you, I will.”
I was laughing again about her calling Dad’s house a mausoleum.
It was beautiful.
But it was sterile.
I hoped she did something about that. Finally made Dad’s house a home.
“I mean,” she continued, “I don’t know if there is a dungeon. But I’ll find it if I have to.”
“I would…” I cleared my throat. “That would be awesome. Not the dungeon part. Just the girls’ time part.”
